Kramer said that representatives of the board and teachers union began contract talks last month determined to avert the vitriolic atmosphere that plagued negotiations between Glenbard High School District 87 and its faculty. Glenbard teachers went on a one-week strike at the start of the school year, ripping apart the community.

District 86 teacher negotiations began the week after the Glenbard walkout.

The new contract takes effect immediately after the current three-year contract expires June 30.

In past years, District 86--like many Illinois school districts--has not reached a settlement on a new pact with its teachers union until the beginning of the new school year was at hand.

District 86 includes Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale and Hinsdale South High School in Darien. It has 270 teachers and 3,600 students.

Kramer said leadership of the Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Teachers Association came to the board and said it wanted to try to reach agreement now instead of waiting to start talks next spring.

The board agreed, and the two sides set a deadline of reaching an accord by Oct. 31. Seven negotiating sessions were needed from Sept. 5 to Oct. 8.

"We did it in one month," Kramer said. The school board and teachers union ratified the pact Monday.

Kramer said a key reason for the rapid settlement was that both sides agreed to use the "win-win" negotiating process, emphasizing cooperation and shunning confrontation.

Part of that process, he said, involves using role reversal, in which each side tries to see the talks from the other side.

"I thought the win-win process was excellent," said Tony Lavorato, chief negotiator for the teachers union. "The dialogue was very good and allowed us to get to the real issues very quickly."

"This agreement is fair to both teachers and taxpayers," said James Crandall, teachers union president. "Not only is the new contract a positive for the district, but the process used to reach this settlement was a great step forward."

Kramer said past contracts have been for three years, but both sides quickly agreed on a four-year pact this time. The teachers union also accepted a board proposal to extend the school year by one day, to 185 days.

Current salaries range from $29,966 for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience to $73,117 for an educator with a master's degree, 60 more hours of college credit and 17 years of experience.

The scale in the new contract, with minimums and maximums, will be 1999-2000, $30,865 to $75,311; 2000-01, $31,715 to $77,385; 2001-02, $32,508 to $79,320. In the fourth year, the increase will be pegged to the consumer price index, but not lower than 1.75 percent or higher than 4 percent.

In addition, a teacher with fewer than 17 years of experience will receive a second raise for another year on the job. The size of that boost varies, depending on the teacher's place on the wage scale.

Teachers will receive base pay increases of 3 percent the first year, 2.75 percent the second, 2.5 percent the third and the fourth year left to later negotiations.